Visiting the splendid Cyfarthfa Park in Merthyr Tydfil this morning with the dogs, parking in front of Cyfarthfa Castle. The skies were gloomy grey and there was a fine mist. There was little wind and it didn’t feel cold today.

Noticing today… many tree stumps in varying degrees of decay. The tree stumps were swiftly being reclaimed by nature. In some of the photos I’ve attached with this post, there are tree stumps camouflaged in moss, ivy, grass and many other living things.

I noticed the clipped beech hedging as there is much of this in the park, the tree bark on a conifer that looked like a Scots Pine, bed of hellabore in flower, daffodils pushing through the leaf litter, the variety of moss and lichen growing on trees.

My attention was drawn to a nuthatch (Sitta europaea) gawkily climbing a tree ahead… easily recognised by its blue/grey and orange colours.

There were many dogs walking their owners today in Cyfarthfa Park. The Welsh word ‘cyfarthfa’ can be translated as ‘place of barking dogs’. There are other possible translations I understand, but I like this translation.

On the last leg of my journey around the pack, I spotted a Weimaraner pointing intently in the distance near a hedge… When his owner passed, he explained that the dog was pointing at squirrels!